Expanding Business Opportunities with Procurement Contracts

Last Updated: 7/13/2010

The City of Roseville and Placer County Vital Assets Teams recently combined their efforts to present the “Small BusinessProcurement Expo” bringing government agencies and large corporations together with local small businesses.

"As a provider of a wider range of healthcare services, from temporary/permanent nurse staffing to elder care in the home setting, the Procurement Expo opened my eyes to a number of opportunities I would not have identified on my own. This includes business possibility at the city, county and state level. Also, I had unique opportunity to interact directly with local businesses and government representatives. Hats off to the organizing team!” Ignacio Cespedes, PhD., President/Owner, BrightStar

Sam Elmer, City of Roseville Purchasing Division, speaks to Expoattendees during the panel presentation

Beginning the morning with a panel discussion comprised ofrepresentatives from the StateDepartment of General Services, Federal Technology Center, California Public Utilities Commission, Small Business Administration, PlacerCounty Procurement Services Division, and City of Roseville Purchasing Division, Expo attendees learned the nuts and bolts about how toqualify for and how to bid on a government contract.

Following the panel, attendees were invited to visit the various government booths along with speaking to representatives from Kaiser Permanente, Sure West Communications, Sutter Roseville Medical Center, and Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital. The Expo was organized to be an interactive event with the panel discussion, booths, a presentation by the Federal Technology Center, and “meet and greet” break-out sessions. The “meet and greet” sessions provided an opportunity for a business owner to meet one-on-one with government and corporate representatives from the agencies mentioned above in addition to Beale Air Force Base, Caltrans, Placer County Water Agency, Bureau of Reclamation, mPower Placer, Veteran’s Outreach Center, Los Rios Small Business Development Center, and the Golden Sierra Job Training Agency.

Eileen Ochoa, California Department of General Services conducting a “meet and greet” session with a local business owner

"The Procurement Expo was a great success for all involved. Several of the business owners who I met with commented that the timing was right for their businesses (good time of year, good time in the development of their business, etc). They also commented that it was a fantastic and worthwhile opportunity for them to interact with several public agencies at once, as well as with each other.” April Pay, CPPO, CPPB, Senior Buyer, Placer County Procurement

The Vital Assets Programs are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through theGolden Sierra Workforce InvestmentBoard.

Watch this newsletter and access the City of Roseville web page at www.roseville.ca.us(click on Business) for a list of upcoming workshops and links to other resources available to local businesses.